Computers in spacecraft that fly at high altitudes, that orbit the earth, or that travel in outerspace are subject to harsh radiation. In order to mitigate the effect of radiation on electronics within the airborne computers, redundant processors are used and processing components in the computer are radiation hardened. Radiation hardened processors are expensive with respect to commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components. One method to implement COTS components in airborne computers is described in the patent application Honeywell Docket No. H0007127-1628 entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY ADAPTIVE FAULT TOLERANT COMPUTING” and filed on Nov. 21, 2005, which is hereby incorporated in full.
It is desirable to use COTS processing components in harsh environments without loss of capability or loss of critical data due to single event upsets (SEU) when the non-radiation hardened processor is impacted by high energy radiation or by a high energy particle.